Tuesday 16 June 2009 14.08 EDT
First published on Tuesday 16 June 2009 14.08 EDT

Bayern Munich have rejected an opening bid believed to be worth around £40m from Chelsea for the France winger Franck Ribéry in what is likely to prove the first salvo of protracted negotiations in the Londoners' pursuit of the first marquee signing of Carlo Ancelotti's reign at Stamford Bridge.

Bayern confirmed yesterday that a bid had been received and, having fallen well short of the German club's valuation of the player, reiterated their intention to retain the 26-year-old. However, Chelsea remain hopeful that they will eventually secure the Frenchman, particularly as Ribéry's other suitors appear to be falling by the wayside. Manchester United have rejected claims from the Bundesliga club's chairman, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, that they have tabled an offer and Real Madrid have indicated – publicly at least – that they consider the winger overpriced.

Barcelona could yet enter the running for Ribéry, though the main barrier to Chelsea securing his services appears to be whether they can persuade Bayern to sell their prized asset, who is under contract until 2011. "Chelsea have lodged a bid," said Rummenigge. "I don't want to talk about sums of money because it is not in our interest. The amount is irrelevant. There is always going to be the perception that Bayern Munich are trying to push the price up and that there is a certain value at which we'll have to accept, but I'll say it again: we want to keep Ribéry. A player has to respect his contract. We are relaxed and proud that we have one of the best three players in the world under contract."

It remains to be seen whether Jose Bosingwa, signed from Porto last summer for £16.3m but since identified by Bayern as a potential recruit, could be used as a makeweight in any deal as Chelsea concentrate their efforts on securing Ribéry, having seen attempts to lure numerous other high-profile players frustrated. Kaka joined Madrid for £59m and preliminary discussions had taken place with Valencia over the Spain striker David Villa, though their asking price proved prohibitive. Indeed Real, too, have since indicated publicly that they are reluctant to meet Valencia's valuation.

Interest in Milan's Andrea Pirlo, who had expressed a desire to follow Ancelotti to London, and Alexandre Pato, as well as Sergio Agüero of Atlético Madrid, also appear to have cooled and no attempt will apparently now be made to secure Gennaro Gattuso from the Rossoneri.

Daniel Sturridge and Yuri Zhirkov are still expected to join from Manchester City and CSKA Moscow respectively, and negotiations with Internazionale are ongoing over the sales of Ricardo Carvalho and Deco to the Italian club. Inter are understood to have offered the 28-year-old Argentinian defender Nicolás Burdisso in part-exchange, though the Londoners are believed to be resistant to the idea.